BMW managed to eke ahead of Audi for the global luxury sales crown in February. According to Bloomberg, BMW saw deliveries swell by 7 percent in February, besting the 3.2 percent jump enjoyed by Audi and giving BMW a 407-unit delivery lead over its rival last month. Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, continued to falter, with the brand selling some 37,229 fewer machines than BMW, whose factories are running at full capacity to keep up with demand. Models like the X1 (shown above) enjoyed a sales increase of 40 percent in February while the company's bread-and-butter 3 Series jumped by 26 percent.

Mercedes-Benz hopes to stem its continued market share loss with the addition of the entry-level CLA sedan to its portfolio in April. The company is set to roll out an updated version of its cash-cow E-Class at the same time, and a new-generation S-Class will follow along shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, the company is increasing production to meet demand for its A and B-Class models.

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We'll see how much the CLA changes marketshare fortunes for Benz, and the updated E is badly needed.
Here in London, the ubiquity of the X1 and new 3-series is impossible to ignore.
However, I see far more copies of the new A-Class than the new BMW 1-series, but in this segment, the Audi A3 is the clear winner in my eyes. (And honourable mention to the oft-overlooked Volvo V40.)

A big fan of the V40 and it was my first choice but it's not coming to the US. Though I do like the 2014 A3 a lot, it won't be here for another 6 months and I needed a car in less than 2 so, went with the X1.

@chickenflauta
It's not so much the size, but the form factor. . Not everyone needs size, but you do need the combination of ride height, utility, build quality, and fuel economy. So for Canada, the car makes a lot of sense.

This is VERY misleading...You would hardly call BMW's 1 series a luxury car, but they are included in the sales numbers. If Mercedes comes out with a 20K car and sells a gazillion of them, would that make them the top Luxury brand????

I wholeheartedly agree..... a luxury brand's "non-luxury" product shouldn't count towards their luxury sales! Further more, the x-1 is a total TURD geared towards idiots who value the little badge over quality or performance. Anyone who is non-superficial would spend that same money on a Toyota or Nissan, etc.

I wonder how many parts are made in China? This is one car that I have never owned and probably will not! The new Cadillac's have made the grade as a fine auto. None of them will give a person good service if they are not properly maintained.

It seems today cars fit right into that old adage : The harder one tries to make something different from others the more they all look and seem the same. When I am driving in my pickup truck, I cannot tell one car from another. There are three styles of vehicles on the road and the only difference is the license plate numbers. They look the same, they run the same and that other adage also fits in today: You get what you pay for! I try and stay away from gadget mania and all the future expense it represents. All I want is reliability, reasonable safety and a good music system and all the rest is BS. Let's see, this car looks like a Toyota, no Nissan, no BMW, no VW, no Chevy, no Ford, no Whatever, I give up? With colors now limited and identical we look like the old Soviet Auto Fleets of the fifties on our highways. How can people tolerate this? Lets just call them zombie vehicles with different sticker prices. My old Sanford and Son's Ford pickup has a lowerer cost per mile and lifespan of any of these new vehicles. It has never left me stranded.

The 3-series is still the best in it's class. Every one tries to build a "3 series fighter", but they always lose the fight. I will always go with the leader. Once the follower gets close, the leader has already turned the corner. Still a bunch of Bangle butts coming out. idrive is the best of it's kind. A BMW will always be a BMW. An Audi will always be a Volkswagen.

In January, I looked at the 3-Series and the ATS. Both very nice. Pluses here, minuses there. I don't need every spec to be the best-in-class on paper or in the press. Don't care who won the latest comparo test. I drive modestly, I'm not label-sensitive, and I think the ATS styling is more dramatic and appealing - just my opinion. Bought the ATS. The other new car in our garage is an X1.

An Audi is an Audi. I love the new 3, and the current A4/S4 is as good or better, echoed by just about every car authority out there. Furthermore, I DEFY you to sit in the S4, the new 3, and the ATS, and have you pick the Cadillac. I've sat in the car, and I would never in a million years choose it over the other two. Plastic everywhere, ugly interior, it's just not as impressive when you're close up.

Of course, BMW is for casuals. X1 and 3-series are for people who want the BMW badge but can only afford entry level. These things are everywhere in California (if they didn't have a Prius) 320i probably overtakes the 328i in sales/leases. At the same time they're slowly losing their enthusiast base to the other Germans just because they're catering to guys who only want the badge and couldn't care less about what "Ultimate Driving Machine" is supposed to be about.
Also, don't they count leases as "sold?"

Written like someone who has never driven one. There is a reason the car is so popular, and it has more to do with performance than price. It may have become softer than the old E46, but find another non-hyrbid sedan that returns real world fuel economy near 30 MPG, 5-star crash ratings, 0-60 in 5.5 seconds, and a 65% residual value in 3 years. And since when is a $40k+ sedan entry level?

Lucky for BMW that the 3 is picking up. I heard several times after its redesign that sales were grim. No surprise to me with the gimmicky dash design and reading glasses styled front headlights (that's what I see that odd plasticy bridge as -count me as nuts if you want).
The X1 isn't gorgeous but to us, owners of an aging 3-series wagon, it's a very logical car. We don't want tons of tech, we like simple heat controls and a radio with presets, and KNOBS. Plus, if you just get RWD, a sunroof, heated seats and plether, it's downright cheap with good mileage. Unless we really go for mileage (Lexus CT), it will probably be our next car.

The new BMW\'s suffer from horrendous turbo lag and auto transmission lag. There is nothing sporting about them any more. If you are still thinking of your old E30 with stick shift and LSD rear- forget it- the new BMW\'s are nothing like that. They are laggy and numb. Don\'t bother buying a new BMW with auto trans- you\'re just fooling yourself.

I have an X1. If you leave it in D. Yes, lag. It's an automatic and it's trying to protect your fuel economy. If you put it in sport (DS), the throttle is very responsive, like cable throttle body responsive. (as an aside, I've managed to drive my X1 on an AutoX course on the all seasons to a class win over an RX8 and IS300). The vehicle is very capable, but yeah, in default mode, it drives like a hauler. Put in in sport and shift down to M1 and it hauls ass.
What's more puzzling is you admit it's better in sport mode, but you still complain about it. I don't get it. Sport mode for sport driving, D for fuel econ/traffic. They do this to get the EPA numbers. If you want to quickly change it down, downshift with the paddle.
I just think some people don't know their cars, or how to drive them.
I don't know what else you drove at the time, but nothing short of a sports car, drove as well as the X1 did (including the outgoing 328 wagon). Easily the best torque converter I've ever used.

We own an X1. Go read the X1 and X3 forums and you\'ll see pages and pages of complaints about the throttle lag (It\'s actually turbo & transmission lag). Driving in sport mode makes it better, but at the expense of gas mileage.

@icemilkcoffee, I think that is the Steptronic transmission. Drive the previous model year that had the naturally aspirated inline 6. It has the awful lag right when you set off from a stop. The E90 328i had the same issue back in 2006.

Seemingly every car mfr in the world now does the lag thing. My son-in-law and daughter just bought a 126K GL 550. Lag city. They surely must program the throttle position sensor to not give you what you want right away. All of this to improve fuel economy.
So - my son-in-law let me drive the 550. I tried to squeeze thru cars while turning left. The lag caught me by suprise, as the oncoming car almost caught the rear quarter panel by suprise. Without lag - it would have been easy. Scary. Makes you wonder if anyone has had an accident under similar conditions. And maybe - just maybe, a lawsuit we don\'t hear about?

The success of the X1 is surprising to me. I have sat in the car a number of times and it just feels so cheap. It is definitely a big notch down from the X3. It is also incredibly smaller and lower, almost to the point of being more of a jacked up wagon. It's like the Subaru Outback of BMWs, but not in a good way. Maybe buyers are OK with that since it is still a BMW. And the performance from combo of the small size and big engine is impressive. But to me it is not worth the money given the interior quality. It is also fairly fugly on the outside.

We chose our new X1 to replace a 2010 Subaru WRX 5-door. The BMW is a major upgrade in may ways. It fits the dogs, camping gear, beach supplies ideally. Fit, finish, materials, chassis composure, highway serenity...all of these are in another league compared to the WRX. So I guess it depends on what you are used to.

When it came to driving dynamics, I found the X1 a bit more fun than the 328i ,which feels a bit isolated by comparison. The X1 is just a bit older design, lacking some of the latest design language and iDrive tech of 3-series. That's what sold me on the 328i last week, as much as I prefer wagons.